Boons

+ATK: Attack is a consistently great boon for Dorcas as it will increase his raw damage in both Player and Enemy Phase.

+DEF: Defense is another good choice for any unit that can function as a physical tank, overall helping Dorcas’ ability to take hits from Defense targeting weapons while providing additional damage to Defense scaling Specials such as Bonfire and Ignis.

Neutral

RES: Although Dorcas’ Resistance is rather unimpressive at a base value of 24, raising it comes with the benefit of a superboon. By adding additional skills that further boost his Resistance such as Warding Breath, Dorcas can serve as a solid mixed tank.

HP: Dorcas prefers to keep his HP neutral in order to keep his overall bulk intact as well as effectively utilize skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy.

Banes

-SPD: Dorcas’ Speed is too low to make any effective use of, making it the easiest stat to drop.

Since this build is heavily centered around Enemy Phase combat, Attack and Defense are the choice boons to take in order to maximize Dorcas’ damage output as well as his physical resilience.

For his Special, Aether pairs exceptionally well with Dorcas’ low Speed. When combined with Steady Breath, Dorcas can potentially activate Aether every single round on of combat assuming that his opponent doubles him and Quick Riposte is active. Aether’s self-healing aspect also gives Dorcas the ability to be a self-sustaining tank. For a purely offensive approach, both Bonfire and Ignis make for consistently powerful options thanks to Dorcas’ great Defense. Moving on to main skills, the aforementioned Fierce Breath makes for a phenomenal option. Not only does it allow Dorcas to activate Specials more frequently, but it also boosts his raw damage when initiated on. If unavailable, Dorcas’ native Fierce Stance makes for a good budget alternative by simply providing a strong boost to his Attack during Enemy Phase.

Quick Riposte is absolutely essential for Dorcas, as he is reliant on it to perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase. Alternatively, one can move Quick Riposte to the Sacred Seal slot in favor of running Guard as his B skill. Guard will greatly reduce damage taken from opponents that rely on activating their Special such as Ayra and Fallen Hardin. This also applies to all armored units running Bold Fighter as their follow-up attacks cannot be avoided if they initiate on Dorcas. Another very strong option is Wrath, as it further increases both the frequency and power of Dorcas’ Special activation. This allows Dorcas to swing even more matchups in his favor, specifically against bulkier opponents.

Thanks to his high HP pool, Dorcas has the option to run skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy. These both provide fantastic team support, as Infantry Pulse accelerates the Special cooldown of all infantry allies with HP lower than him while Panic Ploy provides a massive advantage over teams that like to use Hone/Fortify buffs. For a more standalone option, Dorcas can also utilize Smoke skills effectively. Atk Smoke makes Dorcas a better overall tank by reducing the damage of opponents around him after combat while Def Smoke boosts his own damage against the affected targets. Otherwise, the C slot can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

Last but not least, Dorcas has several options when it comes to Sacred Seals. Close Def is a great choice for his Enemy Phase oriented playstyle, as it will further reduce damage taken from all melee opponents when initiated on. If not already being used in the B slot, Quick Riposte Seal is crucial in allowing Dorcas to perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase. The same applies to both Atk Smoke and Panic Ploy, which can also be run here if it is not already being used in the C slot. Finally, Quickened Pulse can be combined with Bonfire in order to bring its initial cooldown to 2. When paired with Steady Breath, Dorcas will activate Bonfire on his very first counterattack. This allows him to take out opponents in a single hit before they have the chance to double him.

This set focuses on turning Dorcas into a suitable mixed tank by investing into his magical bulk. As such, Dorcas’ superboon in Resistance makes for a suitable nature in addition to Attack and Defense.

For his Special, Aether remains a fantastic option for being both consistent in its activation when paired with a Breath skill as well as by granting Dorcas self-sustain through its healing aspect. Specials with short cooldowns such as Glimmer and Moonbow also make for suitable alternatives, as Dorcas can potentially activate them every single round of combat. Glimmer is a particularly effective choice when combating ranged units due to them having lower physical bulk on average. Meanwhile, Moonbow makes for a more effective against opponents with exceptional physical bulk such as Hector.

Similar to Steady Breath, Warding Breath accelerates the cooldown of Dorcas’ Special when initiated on but provides a supplementary bonus to his Resistance rather than Defense. This pairs particularly well with the aforementioned Glimmer/Moonbow, as their cooldown of 2 allows Dorcas to activate his Special on every single counterattack. At the expense of accelerating his Special, Distant Def also makes for a great choice by greatly reducing damage from all ranged opponents when initiated on. On a budget, Fury is another suitable option; not only does it provide a +3 boost to all of Dorcas’ stats, the 6 damage recoil taken after combat synergizes well with skills such as Wrath and Vantage.

Once again, Quick Riposte is essential one way or another in order to perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase while Wrath makes the activation of Dorcas’ Specials both stronger and more frequent. Outside of this, Vantage makes for a good cheap alternative by granting him the potential to take out multiple opponents in the Enemy Phase assuming his Special is ready to activate.

Dorcas’ native Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy are both great team support options with the latter also improving Dorcas’ potential as a standalone unit by turning his opponent’s Hone/Fortify buffs into penalties assuming it lands. As for Sacred Seals, Distant Def boosts Dorcas’ overall bulk even further to by providing an additional +6 Def/Res when initiated on by a ranged unit. If not already being used in the B slot, Quick Riposte Seal is pivotal in allowing Dorcas to consistently perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase. The same applies to Panic Ploy, which can also be run here if it is not already being used in the C slot.

Introduction

As an infantry axe user, Dorcas’ most standout feature is his personal weapon. Stout Tomahawk grants Dorcas the coveted ability to retaliate against ranged units without the need to sacrifice his A slot, opening the door to powerful combination such as Distant Counter + Breath skills.

Statwise, Dorcas sports all the makings of a strong Enemy Phase unit with high values in Attack, Defense, and HP. This makes him an incredible physical duelist, as he can easily soak hits while dealing massive damage back. Dorcas’ high HP pool is also a plus, as it grants him utility by allowing him to effectively utilize powerful support skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy.

In sharp contrast to Attack and Defense, Dorcas comes up short in both Speed and Resistance. While the latter can be circumvented through a boon and team support such as Drive Res, Dorcas’ low Speed will cause him to get doubled by an overwhelming majority of his opponents. Overall, Dorcas is an exceptional Enemy Phase combatant and performs well on a variety of teams thanks to the advantages provided by his high HP pool and unique weapon.

Strengths

Stout Tomahawk

Having built-in Distant Counter, Stout Tomahawk grants Dorcas massive coverage by allowing him to retaliate against ranged units as well as opening his A slot for powerful combinations such as Distant Counter + Steady Breath.

Great physical bulk

At a base value of 80, Dorcas’ physical bulk makes him an exceptional physical tank as well as an effective user of Defense-scaling Specials such as Bonfire and Ignis

High Attack

In addition to maintaining a high physical resilience, Dorcas hits back hard with a base Attack of 35.

High HP pool

At a solid base value of 45, Dorcas can effectively utilize skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy in order to better support his team.

Weaknesses

Terrible Speed

While Dorcas’ low Speed does help him in some regards such as charging his Special, it’s also a major weakness. Getting doubled can greatly increase the amount of damage that Dorcas takes as well as making Specials easy to charge and activate against him for his opponent.

Low Resistance

Without heavy investment, Dorcas takes heavy damage from magic-based attacks due to his relatively poor base value of 24.

Team Options

First and foremost, Dorcas greatly appreciates teammates that can provide buffs in key stats such as Attack and Defense. He also pairs well with infantry teammates with lower HP than him, as he will be able to accelerate the cooldown of their Specials through the use of Infantry Pulse. Last but not least, Dorcas enjoys having blue allies that can cover his Weapon Triangle disadvantage.

Buffers: Brave Lucina, Ephraim, Delthea, and Linde can all provide great buff support for Dorcas. Delthea and Linde are standouts, as Dark Aura will provide Dorcas with a staggering +6 to Attack.

Special reliant infantry: Units such as Ayra, Nephenee, and Nino can benefit from Dorcas’ ability to accelerate the cooldown on their Specials through the use of Infantry Pulse.

Refreshers: Olivia, Performing Azura, Ninian, and New Year Azura all compliment Dorcas’ Enemy Phase playstyle by allowing him an additional turn to move into more favorable positions. In addition, Performing Azura can also take on the role of a buffer while New Years Azura can provide additional movement support through the use of Guidance.

Strong blues: Fallen Hardin, Lute, Micaiah, and Nowi all perform well in checking both physical and magical reds that may pose a threat to Dorcas.

Counters

The combination of poor Speed and Resistance makes Dorcas an easy target for magic damage dealing enemies, as they can easily blow through his health in a single round of combat. In addition to this, physically bulky red units can mitigate the damage that Dorcas is able to do in return, especially if they are running guard to prevent him from activating his Specials. Last but not least, skills that prevent counter-attacks can whittle down Dorcas’ health without giving him the opportunity to fight back.

Powerful magic: Celica, Nino, Young Tiki, and Lilina will make short work of Dorcas due to his combination of poor Speed and lacking magical bulk.

Physically bulky red: Zelgius, Arden, Legendary Ike, and Adult Tiki can mitigate Dorcas’ damage output thanks to their high physical bulk as well as their Weapon Triangle advantage. This can be further accentuated should they run the skill Guard, as Dorcas will be unable to activate his Specials.

Counterattack preventing skills: Firesweep weapon users such as Soleil, Elincia, Legendary Ryoma, and Bridal Cordelia are able to do serious damage to Dorcas without any chance for him to counterattack. This also applies to opponents that run the skill Windsweep such as Alm and Joshua. Brave Lyn is a special case, as she can prevent Dorcas from counter-attacking regardless of weapon due to Sacae’s Blessing.

A simple build really. His A, B, and C slot skills have remained the same as they synergize well together and I don't need really explain them. I went for standard repo and bonfire since his DEF is so high.

The only unique skill that I gave him was distant def 3. Sitting at 28 isn't that impressive but is really good for a unit that focuses on def and atk. This gets him to 34 res with 35 def. Also I use him as a baiter which with fierce stance gives him 6 atk so that fixes his minus atk stat.

So as long as you keep his HP high he is going to be quite difficult to kill. As a side note I supported him with Joshua to give him +1 or +2 to his stats and a wind blessing for when I get a gunnthra. I also pair him with Performing Olivia that has geyser dance which gives him another 4 def/res.

With all of this he can get to 41 def, 40 res which can tank most everything in the game if he is at full HP. So a plus res Dorcas can be extremely viable.

With the addition of the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal, Dorcas has gained enough strength to rival, or perhaps overcome Hector as a bulky green axe unit. Dorcas will be constantly sustaining himself with Renewal, and with Aether, due to the amount of times he is going to get doubled. This set is somewhat affordable and works well, but players must be wary of red mages especially. Substitutions such as Reciprocal Aid for Reposition can be made. Vantage and Wrath are not good skills to run with this set, because Dorcas will almost never be in range.

This is a powerful build when using Dorcas in TT, Aether on top of his huge attack stat let's him reliable heal himself while decimating his targets. This set will let him stay in the fight for consecutive maps.

Builds around Vantage to allow Dorcas to counter as hard as he can with Fierce Stance and Attack+3 boost which potentially give Dorcas a +9 attack boosts. Combined with 38 attack and 16 from weapon, which allows Dorcas to counter with a whopping 63 attack.